One of my favourite things when working with clients is to use the Zoom share screen tool to view and discuss a client’s upcoming week. I ask a whole bunch of questions and sometimes they sound basic but often these are the ones that tap into the most useful lessons.
Recently with one client, I took in her packed week of work commitments and then saw that she was heading away for the weekend straight after work. So I asked when did they plan on packing? My client did a literal ‘Doh!’ expression. They hadn’t thought of it!
Well, Friday morning wasn’t going to work because they had to be out early on-site, so Thursday evening it was. Making a calendar event, we booked in some time for Thursday evening and popped another reminder in on Friday morning to pack smaller last-minute items. My client said that they felt more relaxed having thought that through and having put time aside for the activity.
We continued on with the rest of their week and they picked up on a few more things that they’d overlooked. These were tasks relating to meetings and personal admin. Picking up on these now was going to save them a lot of time and energy. They felt like the master of their domain after that session! And that’s the payoff of thinking ahead.
By taking a moment and looking at the week coming up you can think through what’s attached to each commitment and look at the time available leading up to it and factor accordingly. Say for example, that you have a meeting on Wednesday morning that you are presenting at but you’re having Tuesday off and Monday is already packed with meetings; this all means that your presentation preparation is brought forward to Friday. Phew! That was a close one!
Does this resonate with you? Have you experienced a close call?
I invite you to comment below or send me an email and share a close call you’ve had. What did you learn from it?
